There is always a question over the point of remaking a classic film, but when the remake is in the hands of the Coen brothers and the film is the quintessential Western TRUE GRIT, with Jeff Bridges stepping into John Wayne's Oscar-winning boots, expectations are high.
Thankfully it emerges as an unmistakably Coen brothers work, and both a warm tribute to the original and a genuinely impressive film in its own right. Returning to Charles Portis's novel, the film is rich with its authentic dialogue and wry wit, as it tells of the vengeance-bent 14-year-old Mattie Ross, who enlists the help of the toughest lawman she can find to track down her father's killer.
But the film unquestionably belongs to Jeff Bridges, who reinvents Rooster Cogburn in one of his very finest performances.